Get Well Soon
by Lissical
Summary: When Sam gets sick, he knows he has a 'big brother' to count on to help him.


The sound of his alarm clock made him cringe. He already had a terrible headache. Sam blindly reached for the button to turn the alarm off. After five minutes, he finally got out of bed, his body aching all over and his head pounding.  
  
"It's just allergies," Sam assured himself as he went into the kitchen to take aspirin for his aching body. After he took the aspirin, he went to go take a shower, get dressed, and headed off for work. "Please," he said to himself as he drove, "don't let today be busy."  
  
Right as he walked into the communications bullpen, he could tell it was not going to be a pleasant day, aside from his 'allergies.' He knew this because right as he walked in, he heard someone yelling his name.  
  
"Sam! Where have you been? You're fifteen minutes late! We have staff in five minutes! Have you finished the final draft of the President's speech?" Toby's yelling just made Sam wince. His head felt as if it was going to explode.  
  
"Yes, Toby, it's finished, and yes, I know we have staff in five minutes, okay? Just let me take my coat off." As soon as he had his coat off, he rummaged through his briefcase to find the speech he had to write. "Here's the speech, Toby," Sam said, in almost a whisper.  
  
"Are you alright Sam?" Toby asked, a bit concerned now. He had never seen Sam's face so pink before and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." He said, lying through his teeth. "Let's get to the meeting."  
  
"Okay, so C.J., you'll brief the press on when the President will be speaking?" Leo asked.  
  
"Consider it done, Leo."  
  
Sam was not concentrating on the meeting. He was concentrating on how much his head hurt and how much he just wanted to get back into bed right then and there. He soon began to feel a bit dizzy. He was glad he was sitting at the end of the couch so that he could rest his hand on his head without looking conspicuous.  
  
"So that's it, then?" Leo asked the group. When no one said anything more, Leo addressed the group once more. "Alright, we're done then."  
  
Sam managed to get up without falling back down again. He just wanted to get back to his office and lay his head down on his desk for a while. He didn't make it very far though. Right as he walked out of Leo's office, the dizziness came back. Sam had to steady himself against the wall to keep from falling.  
  
"Sam?" Toby said from behind. "What's wrong Sam? Talk to me. Come on."  
  
"Hmm? Nothing, Toby, I'm fine. I just didn't eat breakfast this morning."  
  
"Sam, you never eat breakfast. Now come on, your face is all pink and you look as if you haven't slept in days. Are you feeling alright?" He was genuinely concerned.  
  
"Well, to tell the truth, I have a bit of a headache." Sam said as he pushed himself off of the wall, only to find that when he did, he nearly fell over. Toby quickly ran over to catch Sam before he fell over completely.  
  
"Yeah, just a little headache. I'll believe that when you can walk straight without having to lean on anything. Come on, I'm going to take you home so you can get some rest."  
  
"Toby, I'll be fine," Sam said, while making an attempt to free himself from Toby. As he did, a bout of nausea hit him. He set himself free from Toby and ran to find the closest bathroom.  
  
Ten minutes later, Sam walked into his office, only to find Toby there. "What are you doing in here," he said, almost in a whisper, so that he wouldn't make his headache any worse than it already was.  
  
"Sam, stop playing dumb. I can clearly see that you do not just have allergies. You probably have that bug that's been going around. Come on, I'll take you home."  
  
"Toby, really, I'm fine. I just need to take some aspirin. I have a horrible headache." He wasn't completely lying. He did have a horrible headache. He just didn't want to mention the fact that he was also burning up and feeling sick to his stomach.  
  
Toby eyed the younger man cautiously as he went around to the other side of his desk and sat down in his chair. Toby followed Sam and before he could reach for his desk drawer for the aspirin, Toby felt his head. He was hot! "Sam, come on. Now. No more excuses. At least go lie down in my office for a little while. We have to meet with the President in an hour. That will give you enough time to close your eyes for awhile." Sam just nodded his head and followed Toby into his office. Right as he stepped into the other man's office, he felt sick again and bolted for the bathroom. Toby was getting more and more concerned.  
  
After an hour of sleep, Toby awoke the younger man. "Sam, get up," he said as softly as possible, "we have to meet with the President now." Sam slowly rose to his feet, careful not to upset his stomach or his head.  
  
In the Oval Office, Sam seated himself at the end of the couch as he had done earlier in Leo's office. He tried as hard as he could to listen to the President speak, but his head began to pound once again. He tried not to show his pain, and it worked--that is, until the meeting ended and he had to get up. As he did, he felt the room spinning and began to sway back and forth, unable to stand up straight.  
  
"Sam? Sam?!" Toby called, drawing attention from everyone else who soon took notice on the young man's health. "Sam, can you hear me?" Toby asked as he ran up behind Sam, just in time to catch him from falling down. "Oh my god. Someone call an ambulance! Sam! Wake up! Come on Sam!" Toby's voice was full of worry.  
  
"Charlie!" The President called.  
  
"Yes sir?" Charlie asked as he walked into the office.  
  
"Get my wife in here now."  
  
"Yes sir." And with that, Charlie ran out of the Oval Office over to Abbey's office.  
  
"What's going on?" Abbey said, as she rushed into the office. No sooner had she said that when she saw Sam lying on the floor with Toby supporting his head. "What the hell happened?!" Abbey demanded, looking from Toby to Jed and back to Toby again.  
  
"He said he wasn't feeling well this morning. He got sick twice, and he has had a headache ever since he came in this morning." Toby said, in full panic mode.  
  
No sooner had Toby said that, had the paramedics arrived. They came in, took his blood pressure, temperature, and checked to see if Sam was at all awake. "His blood pressure is 160/90, temperature is 102."  
  
"What does that mean?" Toby demanded as the paramedics lifted Sam onto a stretcher and began to wheel him out of the office.  
  
"Don't worry Toby. He's going to the hospital, he'll be fine." Abbey said. She saw the terror in his eyes, along with the rest of the staff. "If you want my professional opinion, I'd say that he has Appendicitis." Abbey said in a monotone, so to not get the staff too rattled, but also to keep herself in line.  
  
"Sir, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the hospital." Toby said as he walked out of the office.  
  
"That's fine, Toby. Just keep us updated as to what his condition is." Jed said, also very concerned.  
  
Once at the hospital, Toby went to the nurses' station. "Excuse me," he said almost breathless, "do you know where Sam Seaborn is?"  
  
"He was taken up to surgery about five minutes ago, sir." One of the nurses said. She saw the fear in Toby's face.  
  
"What?! Surgery! What's wrong with him?"  
  
"He had an acute Appendicitis. He should be fine. He'll be out of surgery in about an hour or so. I'll take you up to the waiting room on the floor. Follow me."  
  
A half an hour later, a doctor walked into the waiting area on the floor. "Is there a Mr. Ziegler here?" The doctor asked, looking around.  
  
"That's me." Toby said as he shot up and nearly ran towards the doctor. "Is Sam alright?"  
  
"He's fine, sir. We were successfully able to remove his appendix without any complication."  
  
Toby breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I go see him?"  
  
"Yes, but he will most likely be asleep. You can visit with him for about an hour."  
  
"Thank you doctor." Toby said, very relieved that his friend was going to be all right. The doctor led him to the room where Sam was still sleeping. Toby walked in and sat down on a chair next to Sam's bed. "Hi Sam. I'm here for you now, and I'm not leaving until you wake up." Toby said. He almost forgot about calling the White House. As soon as he gave the staff and the President the news that Sam would be fine, he went back into the room.  
  
Forty-five minutes later, Sam began to stir. "Hmmm...T-Toby?"  
  
"Sam! You're awake!" Toby gasped. "Thank god you're okay."  
  
"What h-happened?" Sam asked weakly.  
  
"You had an acute case of Appendicitis, but you're going to be fine. Don't try to talk, just lie back and I'll get the doctor."  
  
Toby came back to the room with the doctor right behind him. "Well, you are one lucky man, Mr. Seaborn. When you fainted, you could have hit your head pretty hard, but you're very lucky you didn't." The doctor turned to Toby. "Do you know what broke his fall?"  
  
"I did, actually." Toby said, looking over at Sam.  
  
"Well, thanks to you, Mr. Seaborn doesn't have a concussion, and he will be able to go home tomorrow. He won't be able to work for a couple weeks or so. Just until he gains his strength back." And with that, the doctor walked out of the room, leaving the two men alone again.  
  
"You hear that, Sam? You get to go home and stay there for two weeks. I'm going to make sure that you don't do any work. I'll stay at your apartment if I have to, just to keep you from working."  
  
"How fun." Sam said sarcastically, earning that famous look from Toby to shut up.  
  
Toby was true to his word. He made sure Sam didn't do any work at all during the next two weeks. He didn't stay at his apartment, but he called every hour, on the hour.  
  
When Sam was ready to go back to work, Toby offered to pick him up that day. Sam didn't argue. "So how are you feeling?" Toby asked as they walked into the West Wing.  
  
"For the hundredth time, Toby, I feel fine, I really do. If I weren't still a little tired, I could swear that you were my big brother looking out for me."  
  
"Yeah, well don't get used to it." Toby said as the two walked into the communications bullpen, ready for another day of work.  
  
When they entered, a huge sign was over Sam's office door that read 'Get well soon!' Not only was there a sign, but a loud "SURPRISE! Welcome back!" From the staff.  
  
"I'm speechless," Sam said blushing.  
  
"You're speechless, and yet you're a speech writer. Interesting." Toby said, as he smiled at his 'little brother.' Maybe he would let Sam think of him as his 'big brother' for a little while longer. 


End file.
